Courtesy photo Jason Pierce had a tough time recording the upcoming Spiritualized CD, "Songs in A&E." "I can't even listen to the record," he says. "It's weird."

Courtesy photo Spiritualized singer Jason Pierce isn't afraid of orbiting failure. "I look at Roky Erickson and people like him who sort of failed and think, I can do that. I can fail at this and try to create something along the way.' "

They don't call Jason Pierce "Spaceman" for nothing. The Englishman's current band, Spiritualized, and before that, Spaceman 3, made music so surreal and psychedelic that fans risked flunking a drug test at work just by listening to the far-out stuff. Locals had the chance to check it out for themselves when a kinder, gentler Spiritualized made its 805 debut Wednesday night in Santa Barbara.

The convenience window is closed, however, because the next Spiritualized show entails a serious road trip to sweat with the band as part of the mighty Coachella Music Festival this weekend in Indio. Spiritualized will play on Sunday, the third and final day.

Guitar player Pierce is now backed by three gospel singers and a seven-person string section and, not surprisingly is, mildly hawking a brand-new album, "Songs in A&E." The full album will be released May 27. The single "Soul on Fire," and an EP featuring five tracks from the album, will be released Tuesday on iTunes.

"Songs in A&E" is the sixth Spiritualized album and the first in five years due to Pierce's serious and lengthy illness, which left him cured, but weak and as skinny as six o'clock. Using his J. Spaceman pseudonym, Pierce also recorded the soundtrack to the Harmony Korine film "Mister Lonely." The CD was released this week on Drag City Records.

Pierce discussed the latest during a recent phoner.

How's the Spiritualized biz? Are you a rich rock star yet?

Ha-ha. Am I rock star even?

Of course you are.

I don't think so. My agent said that if I ever made a profit on one of my tours, I'd get a few more strobes. We did a few times so we just got a few more strobes. We've got a new record and we've been acoustic for about a year and a half now; I can't wait to plug back into a wall.

Quiet and acoustic in Santa Barbara, but louder and electrified at Coachella?

No, I think that's acoustic, too. We'll be plugging in around May.

Why acoustic then?

Why did we start doing acoustic shows? I'd gotten ill for a couple of years.

Are you OK now?

I'm on my feet, anyway. When I came out of the hospital, I weighed like seven stone or something (98 pounds) and had no energy or confidence. We got invited to do a show with Daniel Johnson. I didn't have the confidence and someone suggested getting in the heavy guns — gospel singers and the string section. People loved it and we've done it for over a year now. We played the Apollo Theatre in Harlem and a lot of special places, so these shows are the tail end of that.

What's your take on these giant music festivals?

It was tiny when we did it before — I had no idea it had grown. Some are great, but at many of them where I was there, the music was the least important thing. It's more about people and a little bit of anarchy and freedom.

Are fans the same all over?

Yeah, pretty much, but I think we've got a musical audience. They want to know about music rather than just what's hip.

Any strange gigs?

They're all pretty weird but I played the Arctic Circle last year. That was kind of a dream although not high enough for me. I wanna get higher. It was weird playing where the sun never went down. We played on an island in the middle of nowhere with no evidence of mankind. Yesterday, I got back from chasing the northern lights. We've got no money to make a video, so we figured "Screw it!" and took some cameras up to Iceland to find the northern lights.

Any differences between Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized?

I think the basics are the same. It's never been overcomplicated; it's about finding a chord and hitting it forever. I don't want to do that same thing for the next 24 years, so I look for ways to push it forward and take it somewhere else.

What does the music sound like? The press calls it "shoegazer" stuff. Is that correct, or does it even matter what they say?

It doesn't matter one bleepin' bit. Sometimes you can hear a piece of music and it doesn't even touch you, but 20 years later, your ears have opened up and it can actually floor you.

Music is powerful on all sorts of levels.

Yeah, which is great. I think too much is made about the "hipness" of music. That's the industry part of it: "Hey, are you hip to this? This is what we're selling today." Either you get it or you don't.

Where does "Songs in A&E" fit into your vast body of work?

It's been a really difficult record to get finished. I owe a lot to Harmony Korine (director of "Mister Lonely" and other films) because he put me back in the studio when I needed to go back. But it's been a strange journey — I can't even listen to the record. It's weird.

But I'll bet you can play it.

Kinda, but that's different — I can get inside it and try to push it somewhere else.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started all this?

I don't know, because I still make all the same mistakes I ever did. There's this thing in England — maybe in America, too — where everyone looks to the Stones and the Beatles and says, "Hey, we wanna be like them." When I was a kid, I looked at both bands and thought, "I could never do that," and I don't think anyone has since. I look at Roky Erickson and people like him who sort of failed and think, "I can do that. I can fail at this and try to create something along the way. And I don't mind the failure."

When did you decide you wanted to be a musician?

I think when I bought the Stooges' third album. Iggy was wearing those silver pants and I just fell in love with the whole thing.